Changeling - Players Guide.pdf

of deserts and canyons. Additional rock and plant spirits can be
found in Axis Mundi, a supplement to Werewolf: The Apocalypse
and adapted for use in Nunnehi chronicles.
Birch
Background Cost: 2
Birch requires abundant light and a cool climate for her wellbeing,
and she is found in the northern and northwestern parts of
America and Canada, including Alaska. Called the White, Paper
or Canoe Birch, her gleaming white bark is stretched over canoe
frames to make birch bark canoes. Her oil, extracted from the
bark, has medicinal value in treating rheumatism and inflamed
joints and muscles. Birch is stately, proud of her beauty and grace.
Traits: Birch grants her Nunnehi children an additional
point of Charisma and Herbalism 1.
Taboo: Birch asks her children to protect her forests
from overuse.
Cottonwood
Background Cost: 5
Also known as the Necklace Poplar, Cottonwood grows on
the American prairie. Her downy buds, shed in the spring,
resemble the fruit of the cotton plant. Tall (80 — 100 feet) and
fast-growing, Cottonwood provides a welcome source of shade,
and long ago taught the Sioux how to build their tipis. Later, her
wood was used by white settlers for building their own houses.
Most importantly, however, Cottonwood is used as the center
pole for the rigorous sun dance, one of the holiest ceremonies of
many Native American tribes, including the Sioux and the Crow.
Cottonwood is one of the most spiritual of trees, and regards
herself as the caretaker of the land and creatures around her.
Traits: Cottonwood's Nunnehi children gain Mythlore
2 and Craft 2 (woodcarving). Nunnehi allies who participate
in the strenuous sun dance also gain an additional point of
Stamina after completing the ceremony, a bonus which can
only be acquired once.
Taboo: Cottonwood requires allied Nunnehi to be frugal
in their use of her wood, replacing cut trees with seedlings
and using deadfalls whenever possible. She also demands that
her children never fail to honor the spirits.
Dogwood
Background Cost: 3
Flowering Dogwood, also called Boxwood or Dog Tree,
grows along most of eastern and southern North America, as far
north as Ontario and Maine and as far south as Texas and the
Gulf region. Valued for her hard wood, useful in making all sorts
of tools, Dogwood's bark also produces a strong tea which induces
sweating and thus aids in breaking fevers, including malaria. An
extract made from simmering her bark in water relieves muscle
aches. Her first spring blooms serve as signs to nearby tribes that
it is time to begin planting corn. Dogwood is lively and helpful,
although somewhat vain with the knowledge that her pink or
white flowers make her one of the loveliest of trees.
Traits: Dogwood endows her children with an additional
point of Charisma as well as Herbalism 2 (or Medicine 1) and
Plant Lore 2.
Taboo: Dogwood's children must never deface themselves,
and must carry a small dogwood trinket with them at all times.
Fir
Background Cost: 2
Fir has many names, among them Balsam, Fraser and
Spruce, but in all her forms, she is a survivor, able to withstand
cold climates that are inhospitable to other species of trees.
Fir does not lose her leaves each year, and the cones she
produces not only give birth to others of her kind but also
provide nourishment for many creatures of the forest. Her sap
is the blood that warms her body year round.
Traits: Nunnehi accepted by Fir gain Survival 2 (alpine
climate) and an additional point of Stamina.
Taboo: Fir requires her children to protect her diminishing
forests. Nunnehi allied with Fir must never cut down a fir tree,
and may use only dead wood for building fires or making items.
Fireweed
Background Cost: 2
Fireweed is a survivor, thriving in normally inhospitable
land such as regions devastated by forest fires or areas distressed
by excavations. She also makes her home in the damp, fertile soil
of the Rockies and the higher Appalachians. Noted for her
striking magenta blooms, Fireweed symbolizes the natural power
of plant life to renew itself, restoring growth and beauty to lands
gutted by humans or nature. Native tribes relied on Fireweed as
a food source, eating the shoots, making soup from the stems, and
brewing tea from the leaves. The roots and leaves of Fireweed
also have medicinal value as an astringent and for ailments
ranging from asthma to whooping cough. Fireweed is tenacious
and hardy, and respects those qualities in other creatures.
Traits: Fireweed grants her children Herbalism 2 and
one additional point of Stamina.
Taboo: Fireweed requires her children to assist in land
reclamation projects whenever possible.
Granite
Background Cost: 3
Granite is one of the crystalline rocks that form the
"basement" of the Appalachian Mountains, and is also found
in other parts of the American continent. It comprises part of
the continent's geological backbone and has weathered eons
of slow change. Granite appears hard and unyielding, but he
is also a symbol for stability and stoicism.
Traits: Granite grants his Nunnehi children two points
of Strength and Intimidate 2.